TOPEKA, Kan.—The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a natural disaster declaration for 21 western Kansas counties ravaged by drought, wildfires and high wind since the start of the year.
The declaration announced Tuesday makes affected farmers eligible for aid including low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
The Kansas counties are Finney, Gove, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Logan, Meade, Morton, Ness, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stanton, Stevens, Thomas, Wallace, and Wichita.
Farmers and ranchers in contiguous counties in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado also can qualify for help.
In Kansas, those counties are Cheyenne, Graham, Rawlins, Clark, Gray, Rush, Decatur, Hodgeman, Trego, Ellis, Norton, Ford and Pawnee.
In Colorado, Baca, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Prowers counties will benefit. In Oklahoma, the affected counties are Beaver, Cimarron and Texas.
